


To the Moon

by laciechan



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Allura and Coran are scientists, Allura pov, Angst, Based on a PC Game, Cats, M/M, Rated T for language, Terminally Ill Keith, mostly klance but shallura is hinted, non-binary Pidge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 05:25:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13241367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laciechan/pseuds/laciechan
Summary: The Teladuv is a device invented by the Altea Corporation in order to allow dying patients a chance to make their dreams become "reality." Two Altean employees, Allura and Coran, head to their next client: Keith Kogane.





	1. Keith Kogane

“Coran, we’re lost.”

Allura crossed her arms in disbelief. The two scientists had been on the same dirt road for nearly half an hour and there was no sign of civilization. From the view of her window, she could hardly see the setting sun, no thanks to the towering pine trees. This won’t do, she thought. They had planned to arrive at their patient’s home before the day ended. Coran shook his head and assured her that he knew what he was doing, and then he went on and rambled about his trip to Peru when he was a young’un.

Allura pursed her lips and continued to ignore Coran’s chatter. She opened the glove compartment of the car and took the client folder out of it. She reviewed the information, fuddling with the corners of the paper. “Keith Kogane. 25 years old. Retired pilot. Retirement due to terminal illness,” she muttered under her breath. This patient’s description was so vague, she thought. Unlike the ones in the past, this one lacked in depth and detail. There was nothing to hint at his personality. No hobbies were listed; no interests at all. Keith Kogane was an enigma. The unclarity of his report was the main reason why Allura picked up his file. Everyone in the company avoided cases like Keith. Too much work, not enough pay.  

“QUIZNAK!”

The car swerved into a nearby tree. Luckily, Coran and Allura were unharmed. “Coran!” Allura yelled, dismayed. There was no way they were going to get the patient’s residence now. The two walked out to the front of the car to check the damage.

“I know a thing or two about vehicles and this most certainly looks bad,” Coran pointed out, rubbing his chin. Allura sighed and looked around in hopes of having someone or something to help them. Being in the middle of nowhere, there was no chance of that happening. “This will just take a tick, Princess… I need to…” Coran muttered, already lost in thought.

Allura frowned, she told Coran to stop calling her “princess.” It had been a childhood nickname, something Coran and her father came up with.

“I’m going to look for help,” Allura said, without an ounce of hope. It wouldn’t hurt to try, would it?

After walking aimlessly for about ten minutes, Allura was about to give up until she heard rustling in the bushes. She turned to the source of the noise, alert. The rustling continued, the leaves of the bush shook harder. She took a step back, unsure of what to make of the noise. From the shadowy green, crawled out a small, tuxedo cat. Its blue eyes peered into Allura’s, tilting its head in curiosity. The cat mewed, tugging Allura’s heartstrings. She took the feline in her arms and it immediately rubbed its head against her chest, purring.

Allura walked back to Coran, the cat still in her arms. “Coran, look this darling little… Coran, what did you do?” The van was unrecognizable, even more so since Allura last set her eyes on the blasted thing.

“There seemed to be a miscalculation,” Coran huffed, kicking the side of the van. Allura looked up at the sky, worrying deeply at the lack of daylight. Hues of navy blue were taking over the sky, the moon now visible.

The cat jumped out of Allura’s arms and circled around her before heading back to the direction Allura had came from. “Call me crazy, Coran, but I think the cat wants us to follow it.”

“Princess, over the years of my youth, I have learned one thing: never trust a cat,” Coran shook his head.

Ignoring his senseless warning, Allura followed the cat. “Come Coran, take the equipment with us. I believe we found a guide.”

 

Much to Coran’s disbelief, the two found a manor in the middle of the dense forest. “What was that you said, Coran? ‘Never trust a cat’?” Allura giggled, hopping along the stoned plated path towards the house. The cat was nowhere to be seen, but Allura silently thanked it, wherever it may be.

The scientists stood in front of the door. Coran heaved, “The Teladuv seems to have gained a few kilograms from the last time I had it…” Allura rolled her eyes and rang the doorbell.

Moments passed, and no one answered the door. “I said it didn’t I, Princess? Never trust a-” Almost from pure irony, the door opened and shut Coran up. The man who answered the door was around Allura’s age. A faint pink wound was drawn across his face and his hair were composed of the strange combination of black and white. He is quite attractive, Allura thought before shaming herself. There were bags under the man’s eyes and a glaze of sleep surrounding his dark irises.

“Hello, sir. We are with Altea Corporation, ‘the company that makes dreams come true.’ Are you the guardian of Mr. Keith Kogane?” Allura inquired. The man ran his hand through his white-colored bangs and nodded.

“I’m his older brother, Shiro. He’s upstairs right now with his doctor. Please come in, the night is kind of chilly here.” Shiro led the two into the household. Allura was amazed at how well-decorated the home was; it truly fit its exterior. There was a grand staircase that led to the east and west wing of the house. The polished marble, the dimly lit candelabras… it was anyone’s dream house. There were paintings lined on both sides of the hallway. Multiple of the paintings had a young man with jet black hair and glowing violet eyes in them. Allura assumed the good-looking subject was Keith. In some paintings, Shiro was with Keith, and in others, an unidentifiable brunette appeared, smiling next to the stoic Keith.

The trio reached the room. Shiro knocked the door softly before entering. Keith laid on the bed, comforted by a multitude of pillows and blankets. On his right side stood the doctor, examining Keith with a stethoscope, and on the left side was a man watching the scene anxiously. The doctor looked up, analyzing the two with their thick-rimmed glasses.

“Pidge, Hunk, these two are from the Altea Corporation,” Shiro introduced, but Allura didn’t register the two individuals. Her eyes were glued to the man on his deathbed.

Keith was the spitting image of all the other Keiths in the paintings that hung outside of the room. Violent plum patches were etched onto his skin, almost as if they were bruises. The Galra, Allura identified. It was a rare hereditary disease with no cure; the victim is succumbed to purple-patched skin and yellow-transitioned eyes, and would slowly lose their senses and brain function. Allura had lost her mother to the same disease. Luckily for her, there was no trace of the genetic mutation in her DNA. He was at the peak of his life, but Death would prevent him from reaching the top. Allura kneeled to the side of the bed, both hands clasping one of Keith’s. “How long do we have?”

She heard Pidge gulp, “Approximately two days. At most, three.” That was more than enough time for any of their clients, she sighed in relief.

“So, uh, how does this Teladuv thing work?” Hunk asked, assessing the machine that Coran was setting up.

Coran cleared his throat and proudly explained his invention, “The Teladuv taps into the patient’s mind and allows us to rearrange their memories in order to grant them their wish… which is to say, what is this young fellow’s wish anyways? The report doesn’t say much about him.”

Pidge and Hunk shrugged and turned to face towards Shiro. The man sighed, “The last time I talked to Keith he said he wanted to go to the moon.” Allura rose an eyebrow. It was an odd wish. Many wished for riches, a life without troubles, being married to the love of their life, but not something this out of the ordinary.

“Interesting,” was all Coran could say.

“Can you make it happen?” Shiro asked eagerly. The poor man was surely distressed from all of this. Allura was too young to remember when her mother passed and seeing Shiro this anxious… she can’t imagine how her father felt.

“That depends,” Allura sighed, “it’s all up to the client. If he is willing and has enough memories that we can alter to get his wish granted, then it’s entirely possible. However, there have been some cases where the client’s subconscious interferes with our work and well… that rarely happens, and we have procedures to follow to prevent that.” Pidge looked a bit skeptical, scrunching their face at Allura’s explanation. Noting the concerning atmosphere, Allura continued, “I promise no harm will come to Keith. Our success rate is 99.99%.”

Coran finished hooking the device up to Keith, two simple pads stuck onto each of Keith’s temple. After a couple more codes, the system was ready. “Now, we only need something of significance to transport us to the approximate time Keith thought of this moon dream of his.” Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro glanced at each other before meekly shrugging.

“We have no idea why he has this dream. He’s never talked about going to the moon before,” Hunk stated. “Not even in high school. If anyone would know it would be…” Hunk fell silent.

“Lance…” Pidge murmured. The room quickly grew silent. Coran and Allura exchanged looks.

“And where would this Lance character be?” Coran asked.

Shiro shifted in his seat uncomfortably and Hunk seemed to be biting back tears.

“He’s dead,” Pidge broke the silence, “Lance is dead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been wanting to write this story since October and I know I have the other one to work on, but I just couldn't help myself.   
> Hope everyone enjoys the story!  
> See you next update


	2. Love is a Polaroid

“About two years ago, Lance got into a piloting accident.” It hurt, Allura could tell, for Shiro to talk about the incident. “He was in critical condition. Barely breathing when they got him to the hospital… He was on life support for so long.”

Pidge rubbed their temples, eyes shut tight as Shiro continued explaining to the Altean scientists. Hunk’s eyes were glued to the ground, head hung. “Lance was in a vegetative state. Brain dead. Keith didn’t want to let him go, but he had to.”

Allura inhaled deeply, allowing the new pieces of information to go through her system. She was more determined than ever to make his odd wish come true. Maybe the moon and Lance were connected, somehow. The gears in her mind shifted. “Does Keith happen to have anything of Lance’s that we can use for the procedure?”

“Lance’s items were moved to the basement,” Shiro took the lead, “I’ll show you the way.”

 

Unlike the rest of the house, the basement was covered in a thin sheet of dust. There were a number of boxes labelled in cursive markers and a couple bookcases filled with antiques. Coran and Allura scanned the area for an appropriate item to start the Teladuv. Allura opened a box that were labelled “albums.”

There were about five photo albums stacked neatly at the bottom of the box and a couple stray polaroid pictures that laid on top of them. With delicacy, she removed the items from the box. The polaroid pictures were partly faded, but she could make out a frowning Keith and a grinning Lance. Squinting, she tried to read the faint ink markings. “First date, 12/3/11,” she whispered. Allura analyzed the picture again and concluded the two went to the movies together. They’ve known each other for about seven years, she noted. The scientist continued to go through the other polaroid pictures. Almost all the other photos were insignificant artifacts for the Teladuv; a few pictures of a sleeping Keith and many pictures of two kittens. She cracked her knuckles and dove into the photo albums.

Two of the albums were marked with Lance’s name. The first album contained only photos of Lance: a ton of pictures of a little boy smiling at the beach. Allura took her time with the album, even though she knew they were useless for the Teladuv. Lance seemed to have retained his personality up until adulthood. Practically all of the photos had him pulling pranks, laughing, and smirking a cat-like grin. Keith’s doctor, Pidge, and the other man, Hunk, were in a few of the photos as well.

The second album was essentially a book dedicated to pictures Lance had taken of Keith. Like the polaroids, most of them were taken when Keith had his guard down. They were a sweet couple, Allura chuckled. She placed the two albums to her side and started to look at the albums labelled with Keith’s name; however, the three albums were empty. Allura frowned, turning every page of each album to ensure there wasn’t any pictures hiding. Why would they store empty albums? Or even buy more albums if the first one wasn’t even filled?

“Coran, this is so strange. These three albums are completely empty,” she voiced her bemusement. Allura turned to Coran and found him inspecting tube glasses. “Coran?” Her fellow scientist glanced at Allura before placing one of the tubes in her hand.

“It’s Marmora,” Coran concluded. Allura gasped, evaluating the tube. Yes, she thought, this was Marmora. The famous insignia was engraved on the glass, the medicine shone purple in the dull ambience of the basement. Marmora was the only possible remedy for Galra. Its properties somehow stunted the illness from advancing. The medication was extremely expensive and rare. For a person to have even one tube could cost an arm and leg.

“There are about five vials of Marmora here. That would ensure Keith to live for decades. Why would he store these in…?” Allura’s face drained of color. Why else would someone refuse to take life-saving medicine?

He had lost the will to live.

 

Shiro waited for them, anxiously pacing back and forth, outside the basement. Allura refused to tell Shiro about their discovery. There was a high chance Shiro didn’t know about the hidden medication. It was too late anyways, Allura reasoned, not an ounce of Marmora could reverse the effects of Galra now. “I found something of use, I suppose,” showing Shiro the photo of Keith and Lance. “I assume they were watching a space-related movie. Maybe that is the origin of Keith’s wish.”

Shiro snapped his fingers, “That’s right! Keith and Lance went to watch _Apollo 18_.”

“What a horrible movie to watch on a first date,” disdained Coran, a major space fanatic. Allura remembered the movie, vaguely. Coran forced her to come and the two ended up getting kicked out due to Coran’s obnoxious critiques during the movie.  

“Keith said the same thing when I picked him up,” Shiro let a fond smile grace on his lips. Allura couldn’t help but smile herself as she watched Shiro reminisce.

 

“That was a horrible movie. I can’t believe Lance liked it,” Pidge huffed, scanning the picture. “Hunk and I were sitting in the far back of the theater watching the two awkward lovebirds.” Pidge shuddered before handing the photo back to Coran.

“So… how does this Teletubby work?” Hunk asked, observing Coran type codes into the machine.

“Teladuv,” Coran corrected. “I first place the artifact onto the scanner, and the Teladuv converts it from electromagnetic waves to brain waves.” The polaroid photo was placed onto the scanner component of the Teladuv. The machine radiated a blue light, signaling that it was ready to transfer into Keith’s mind. “Once the waves are emitted into Keith, his brain will naturally pick up the memory, and we can enter his subconscious from there.”

“That doesn’t even sound possible,” Pidge remarked. Coran shrugged off their comment and keyed the Teladuv to start the transfer.

“After the transfer is complete, Allura and I will start our mission by placing these,” Coran pulled two helmets out of a suitcase, “onto our heads.” He then took out two watches, “And with these, we’ll be able to control and alter Keith’s memories.”

Allura grabbed her pink helmet and watch from Coran’s hands. “It is imperative that nothing happens to our physical bodies. Any outside disturbances may prevent us from properly accomplishing our task,” Allura explained, sitting down on one of the armchairs in the room.

“Alright, Princess, are you ready?” Allura nodded and the two pressed the button on the right of their helmet.

The helmets activated, the interface welcoming them and warning them of the rules of Teladuv. Allura shut her eyes and submerged her consciousness into the system. When she opened her eyes, they were in the shabby movie theater of the polaroid picture.

 

Allura and Coran successfully made it into Keith’s memories. The theater was busy. All the movie watchers had blurred faces which was normal. Since the Teladuv functions solely on a person’s memory, only important items are vivid while others are blurred out. The _Apollo 18_ poster was the clearest object in the scenery. Keith and Lance were nowhere to be seen. “I think they entered the theater already,” Allura pointed to the sign that blared with the movie’s name.

The duo walked into the theater and sure enough, there was Keith and Lance. The couple was sitting in the center of the middle row. Lance was munching on some popcorn, watching the previews flash on the screen. Keith was stiff next to him, awkwardly sipping his drink.

“Ah, youth,” Coran sighed before dragging Allura to the empty seats behind the two.

The two boys did not exchange any words through the course of the previews. “What a date this is,” Coran muttered, earning an elbow to the ribs from Allura.

 “I’ve been wanting to see this movie since last year,” Lance whispered to Keith. The sudden sound of his voice surprised Keith. Both Coran and Allura felt Keith’s anxiety levels rise before settling down with his blood pressure. Keith’s ears flushed red before acknowledging his statement with a rigid nod. The couple fell back into silence for the rest of the movie. Lance made some side comments here and there, Keith grinning shyly and nodding to him. Other than that, nothing special happened between the two. The movie ended and the two stood to leave the theater.

Coran was still sleeping and Allura didn’t bother to wake him up. She followed the two to the hallway outside of the movie room.

“That was probably the BEST movie I have ever seen!” Lance exclaimed.

“Yeah, it was pretty good,” Keith forced a smile.

Allura smiled at the two. It was obvious Keith thought it was the worst movie in the world. Keith could only smile at Lance as the brunette praised the horrid movie.

“I had a good time, Keith. Thanks for coming with me. Pidge and Hunk bailed last minute,” it was Lance’s turn to be shy. Allura glanced at the two subjects of the conversation who were hiding around the corner. The clear image of Pidge and Hunk was proof that Keith knew those two were with them. Allura shook her head in amusement.

“Do you want me to drop you off or are you getting picked up by Shiro?” Lance scratched the back of his head, avoiding Keith’s stare. “I, uh, wouldn’t mind going somewhere else or something… anywhere is fine if I’m with you,” Lance smiled shyly.

Keith’s dread and disappointment filled Allura’s mind. “My brother is actually waiting outside,” Keith stated, trying hard to convey how disheartened he was.

Lance blinked, laughed awkwardly, then cleared his throat, “Right, right. I, um, right. I guess I’ll see you around Keith.”

The disappointment in Keith grew as he started to walk away. Allura furrowed her eyebrows, that was it? They didn’t take the picture, and the two scientists didn’t start to alter his memories yet.

“Wait!” Lance called out, running towards Keith. A confused Keith watch Lance rummage through his backpack. Lance pulled out a Polaroid, the pout now replaced with a beam of teeth.

“Mind if we take a picture together?”

“Uh…sure.”

Lance stood next to Keith, an arm over the boy with the quickening heart. They were inches away from each other’s faces. Keith tried to contain the sheer bliss of being so close to Lance. Lance started the countdown and took the photo. The two watched the picture develop.

Once the picture was clear, Lance gave an exasperated sigh, “Come on, Keith! Live a little. Why are you always frowning, huh?” Keith faked a laugh, slightly regretting putting more effort in suppressing a smile instead of showing it.

Lance kept his eyes on the picture, eyes lit with joy. “I guess it’s okay. I’ll…” The words Lance spoke faded. Keith strained his ears to hear the last bit, but the theater was too loud for Lance’s whisper.

“Did you say something?” Keith asked, eager to hear the words that were lost to the crowd. Lance shook his head, dismissing it with a wave.

“Nothing, it was nothing. I had a great time. We should hang out some more, Keith. See ya!” Lance quickly left the theater, leaving Keith alone in the hallway.

Allura paused the memory with the watch on her wrist. She didn’t gain any hint to why Keith wanted to go to the moon. He didn’t enjoy the movie, so it wouldn’t have inspired him to travel to the moon. Allura clicked her tongue. She returned to the theater that Coran was sleeping soundly in.

“Coran!” she yelled, shaking him awake. Coran rubbed his eyes, jolting up when he realized the theater was empty.

“Where did everyone go? Where’s Keith? Lance?” Allura shook her head in disbelief.

“You didn’t miss much. Turns out this movie wasn’t the origin of his wish… we’ll have to find an artifact from this memory that could lead us to an actual link to his moon dream.” Allura was stumped. She replayed the memory in her head, searching for an object that stood out.

“Maybe Keith’s dream materialized earlier? If he is a space fanatic like _me_ , it would make sense to why he was disgusted with the movie,” concluded Coran. Allura nodded at his observation. There must be something that could link to an earlier memory, she thought.

Then it clicked. Lance’s backpack.

The keychain attached to the backpack was more vivid than the bag itself. Allura rushed outside and turned the memory back. Allura studied the two frozen individuals. Lance’s keychain was the Cuban flag, presumably his home country. Why would it be so vivid though? She followed Keith’s gaze and, sure enough, he wasn’t looking at the backpack but the keychain.

Allura pointed her watch at the keychain, emitting a blue laser. “I don’t know why its important, but it’s the only artifact here.”

The movie theater pixelated away and was replaced with a school.

“Garrison Academy,” the sign in front of the school read.

“Come Coran, hopefully we’ll find something here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished this at 2 AM, but decided to post it in the morning instead haa...  
> I hope you're enjoying the fanfic as much as I am writing it!  
> The next chapter will be mainly about how Lance and Keith met at the academy; super excited for everyone to learn more about their relationship.  
> See you next update!


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